Ladies and Gentlemen: Please Start Your Mixers

MOTUS A.D. ^ | 12-9-18 | MOTUS

[NOBO2012]

Today is Raj’s birthday, and that means only one thing around here: there will be cake. At one time that meant Mom’s Mystery Cake, which was about as simple as a homemade dessert could get and delicious when served with copious amounts of whipped cream. There are many more complicated variations of “fruit cocktail cake” out there but if yours looks more like a traditional cake with identifiable chunks of fruit in it you’re not doing it right. It should be more of an amalgamated pudding like creature.

Mom’s Mystery Cake

Ingredients

    1 (16 ounce) can fruit cocktail in heavy syrup

    1 egg

    1 cup sugar, white

    1 cup flour

    1 teaspoon baking soda

    1⁄2 teaspoon salt

    1⁄2 cup chopped nuts

    1⁄2 cup brown sugar

Directions

1. Drain the fruit, beating the juice with the egg till creamy.
2. Add the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
3. Fold in the fruit.
4. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 inch pan. Top with nuts and brown sugar.
5. Bake for 35 minute at 350.

But I ran across a recipe for an Upside Down Pear Gingerbread cake one year and thought that might be a nice change up since Raj is a big fan of both gingersnaps and pineapple upside down cake. We’ve never looked back. It’s a prelude to the sweet, spicy tastes of Christmas and perfect for an early December birthday. Delectable on its own, it has the added advantage of being even more so when served with those copious amounts of whipped cream. Needless to say we shouldn’t be eating this, but…birthday!

I’d never make it as a millennial as my snapchat food photography skills are sadly lacking. I know I should have dabbed this with a bit of melted apple or apricot glaze before its photo-shoot and placed it on a contrasting color background under a pinpoint light, but the truth is I came to bury Caesar not praise him, so to speak.

I haven’t even begun this year’s cake, this is from a year or so ago.

I’ve discovered any firm pear will work but Boscs seem to make the prettiest whirligigs.  

Pear Upside Down  Gingerbread Cake

 

Topping:           

3 tbs butter 1/3 c firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 ripe, firm Bosc pears

 

Cake:

1 ¼ c flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 large egg

½ c firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/3 c unsulphured molasses (Behr Rabbit dark, preferably, but Grandma’s seems more available)

½ c. milk mixed with 1 tbs white vinegar

4 tbs butter melted

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the sides of a 9 inch round cake pan

 

For topping: melt 3 tbs butter in a small pan, add brown sugar and stir together until blended. Scrape into cake pan and spread evenly.

 

Peel pears and core. Slice each pear into slices. Arrange slices evenly around the cake pan to resemble a whirligig.

 

For cake: Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a large bowl. Set aside. Beat egg, brown sugar, molasses, sour milk, 4 tbs melted butter together. Add the flour mixture and stir until smooth.

 

Spoon batter over pears carefully without disturbing the pattern. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes; place a large plate over the pan and invert onto plate. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream – although I highly recommend warm. Individual slices can be warmed in a microwave for 10-15 seconds.

When I was growing up the 8th of December was a holy day (feast of the Immaculate Conception, probably the most misunderstood of all the Catholic holy days) as well as the unofficial kickoff of the Christmas cookie making. As we all had the day off from school my mom needed some way to keep us occupied as there was generally not any snow to go play in yet, so we did assembly line cookie making. Today is close enough: I hereby declare December 9th the official kickoff of this year’s national Christmas baking season.

In the event your diet or energy level prohibits the real deal, please do so vicariously and post pictures of your virtual creations. And with that, ladies and gentlemen: please start your mixers!

Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

[FrogMom]

That could be MY Christmas present you’re leaning on, there.

Yes, I asked for a kitchen appliance, so revoke my woman’s card!

Merry Christmas!

[Silentgypsy]

I asked for an air compressor one year (and got it).

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you for posting. I tried making it one year using a cake mix recipe and didn’t enjoy it at all. This sounds moist, dense, fruity and heavenly!

[gattaca]

The first recipe we called fruit cocktail cake.

[j. earl carter]

They gave me a new kitchen-aid mixer for Christmas a couple of years ago. It’s very powerful and does a great job on bread dough, but for regular chores like cakes and cookies, I think I prefer the old Sumbeam mix-master (I inherited one from the ‘40’s that still works fine).

[FrogMom]

I get to use FrogDad’s if I need one. Fun stuff!

[Liz]

It's THAT time again....time for chocolate.

Brownie Chocolate Chip Cheesecake / 16 servings

ING •3-8 oz pkgs cr/cheese, •2/3 cup veg/oil •14 oz can Sweet/Cond/Milk •5 lge eggs, divided
•1/2 cup mini choc/chips •18.4 oz pkg Fudge Brownie Mix •2 tsp vanilla •1/4 cup water

BROWNIE •Prepare brownie mix as per pkg using oil, water, 2 eggs. Spread evenly in sprayed springform.
•BAKE set as per pkg 350 deg.

CHEESECAKE •BEAT cr/cheese fluffy. Gradually beat in sweet/cond/milk. Add eggs, vanilla; mix well.
Stir in mini/choc/chips. Pour over brownie. •REDUCE oven to 300°F. Bake 50 min til set.

FINAL Cool. Chill thoroughly. Remove springform sides.

SERVE on a footed cake plate garnished w/ chocolate curls, sprig of mint.

[Liz]

Chocolate pie w/ chocolate cookie crust, and chopped chocolate candy bars in the chocolate ice cream filling.

DECADENT DUTCH CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM PIE

ING Ready made chocolate pie crust; Chocolate Layer 2/3 cup evaporated milk 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter; Ice cream layer 4 cups Turkey Hill Dutch Chocolate Ice Cream 1 cup crunchy peanut butter 1 chocolate candy bar (any kind)

PREP BTB on med combined evap/milk, chocolate chips, sugar and butter; simmer/stir 3-5 min (thickened and smooth); cool.

ASSEMBLY W/ back of spoon, spread a thin layer of choc/chips mixture over crust bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides.
(Reserve remaining chocolate sauce for topping.) Freeze crust 30 min.

FINAL W/ mixer, or by hand, mix softened ice cream with peanut butter. Spoon into frozen crust.
Top ice cream with reserved chocolate mixture, garnish with chopped candy bar and freeze firm 5 hours or overnight.

To serve, remove from freezer 10-15 min before serving for easier slicing.

===================================================

WARNING: DO NOT SURF Turkey Hill's Ice Cream Journal web site. It's too dangerous........ for your waistline.

[Don W]

Good grief, ADDING sugar to fruit cocktail? It’s already so sweet my teeth hurt just thinking about it.

No wonder diabeetus is running rampant!

[redinIllinois]

Pears are wonderful

Thanks for posting :)

[Silentgypsy]

Mr. Sg didn’t have one so I received one of my very own!

[FrogMom]

Awesome!

One year I cleaned out a pumpkin tent after Halloween. Had a lot of pumpkins to peel. Had blisters on my knife hand in no time flat. Went to the garage to find a bloody hack saw and found... a SAWZALL!

Well, it DID just look like a big electric turkey knife. Made short work of the gourds while throwing pumpkin shards everywhere. Moved the operation to the back patio to make cleanup easier. Had my second batch in the canner before FrogDad got home.

[Silentgypsy]

Have not had the pleasure of working with a Sawzall. About canning pumpkin—I adore acorn squash, pumpkin, zucchini especially, but all the canning guidelines said getting the pH in the safe range was iffy so they didn’t recommend it. You obviously know what you’re doing—how did you learn how to can pumpkin? Is pumpkin chemically safer to can than squash?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Can pumpkin as cubes. The main problem is the viscosity and cubing it helps with that.

Summer squash and zucchini can be pressure canned if it is pickled or canned with tomato if you are worried about it being a low acid food.

I tend to dry mine except for the ones I pickle. It tastes better and has a better texture.

You can keep most winter squash for months by placing it in a net bag and hanging it in a cool dry place. I have kept hubbards until March with no problem.

[Silentgypsy]

Thanks for the input! I dehydrated a bunch of produce one year because it’s a less messy process and much easier to store. Finding a cool, dry place in West TN to hang winter squash is tough—the humidity here is unbelievable.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I can see how that would be a problem in your area.

Here is a link for how to dehydrate pumpkin.

http://www.frugalupstate.com/crafts-diy/diy-how-to-dehydrate-pumpkin/

I try to dry as much stuff as I can for space reasons.

[Texas resident]

This reminds me of a joke.

A good mom lets her kids lick the beaters from the mixer.

A great mom turns it off.

[kalee]

My recipe for fruit cocktail cake is different. It has toasted wheat germ in it and is served with a sticky toffee sauce.

[Silentgypsy]

Thanks for the link! Didn’t know they have special sheets to dry fruit leather. Not sure if we’ll garden again but the info for the Excalibur is very handy. Do you remember Justadumbblonde? She recommended the Excalibur and we’ve been very happy with it.